


Incrimination

by LobsterMobster



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arguing, F/M, Father/Daughter Angst, Fluff, Rayllum, kisses make everything better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22370722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LobsterMobster/pseuds/LobsterMobster
Summary: When Runaan catches Rayla sneaking back home in the middle of the night, they both lose their tempers and Rayla makes sure to let him know exactly who she'd been with. But when he pulls her world out from under her as a response, Callum is there to catch her before she hits the ground.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 122
Kudos: 540
Collections: The Dragon Prince





	1. Incrimination

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've never done a modern au before but I've always wanted to try and this idea just came running at me the other night so I thought I'd give it a try. There are some layers of father/daughter conflict between Rayla and Runaan in addition to the Rayllum fluff. Also, just as a heads up, the language in this is a tad bit stronger than my other fics.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The lamp in the den flicked on before Rayla even had a chance to head toward the stairs. The abrupt change in lighting left her rubbing at her eyes and wincing as she tried to clear the spots from her vision.

“You’re late,” a stern voice said from the sofa.

Her eyes may have been clouded, but Rayla didn’t need them to know Runaan had not in fact stayed late at the studio like he said he would.

She groaned and rubbed more furiously at her eyes until she could finally see him glaring at her with clarity. His arms and legs were both crossed tight and his lips were pursed into a straight line.

Shit.

“Rayla, I expect an explanation for this,” Runaan said. “Now.”

Rayla swallowed the trepidation growing in her throat and let herself remember exactly why she’d gone out in the first place. 

She was pissed. 

“You cut me out of the show, so I went to go blow off some steam,” she said simply, pulling her backpack from her shoulder and letting it thump to the ground. 

Runaan looked at her in disbelief. “Blow off some steam?” He repeated back at her as he gestured out the window where he’d undoubtedly seen the car that dropped her off. “And who exactly did you go, ‘blow off some steam’ with?” 

Rayla knew he already knew the answer to that. He just wanted to hear her say it out loud. She folded her arms across her chest and firmly held his gaze. Fine, she could play this game.

“I was with Callum,” she said coolly, daring Runaan to react. 

React he did. Without hesitation, Runaan rose from his seat and stalked over to where she was still standing in the foyer, glowering all the way. 

“I told you to never see that human boy again,” he practically snarled. 

“And I told you that I’m an adult and I don’t need your permission,” Rayla fired back. “Besides, you’re wrong about him. Callum doesn’t study dark magic because he knows it’s awful. He’s kind and good and he doesn't care that I'm an elf. He would never do anything to hurt me. He’s my best friend.”

Runaan looked thoroughly unimpressed. 

“You’re a fool, Rayla,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose like he would when he had a migraine. “That boy is nothing but trouble.  _ Humans _ are nothing but trouble. You’ve known him less than a year and look what’s happened -- you’re sneaking back here at one o’clock in the morning after doing who knows what all night. What happens when he shows you who he really is? What happens when you don’t come home at all?”

Rayla had grown used to Runaan’s bigotry during her first year at Katolis Tech. He’d been against her enrolling in a predominantly human university in the first place. In the end, she’d learned how truly wrong she’d been about humans. Yes, some were terrible and did terrible things, but there were so many like Callum who were incredible and just wanted the hostility between humans and elves to finally end.

But no matter what she said, Runaan would never listen, and she refused to stand there and let him tell her that Callum was some kind of punk who would drag her down.

Rayla glared at Runaan in furious silence for a moment before she pulled her hair back from the right side of her face and tugged down the sleeve of her sweater. 

Runaan’s face when he saw the bright purple bruise sitting at the juncture of her neck and her shoulder was instantly priceless. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open, wordless and stunned. 

Rayla smirked as she let her hair drop. “That was my idea by the way, not his. If anything, I’m a worse influence on him.” 

She expected Runaan to yell and scream, to curse at her for letting a human touch her like that. She expected him to try and send her to her room like a child. What she did not expect was what he actually said, his voice quiet but quaking with anger. 

“Get out.”

Rayla’s smirk dissolved. 

“What?” She asked, not quite believing his words.

“You heard me,” he said, seething. “I can tolerate a great many things, Rayla, but you seeing that human is not one of them.  _ This  _ is precisely why I said you were not ready to dance at Kalik Hall with the others. You are thoughtless and impulsive and you deliberately disobey me.

“You want me to treat you like an adult? Fine, then you can stay in your human’s bed instead of your own.”

Rayla couldn’t seem to find her breath. She and Runaan had always fought, even when she was a child. Ethari always said it was because they were so similar, both firey and stubborn with quick wits and sharp tongues. Even so, she never could have imagined that their fighting could come to this.

She felt her heart breaking as she reached down for her backpack and hefted it once more onto her shoulder. She kept her eyes on Runaan the whole time, daring him to back down, to take it back. 

He glanced between her and her bag for a moment, his expression betraying nothing. A terse nod was all he offered before walking around her and opening the front door. 

A beat passed as they both stood still and rigid, each looking at the other with steely resolve. Rayla would not give him the satisfaction of seeing how much this was shattering her. 

So, she looped her other arm through the strap of her backpack, held her head high and walked straight out of the door without looking back. 

She could feel his eyes on her the whole time. 

The sound of the wood slamming behind her sent the pieces of her heart scattering into the cool April wind. The sting of the night air seeped into the open crevices and brought tears rushing to her eyes. 

She wouldn’t cry, not where Runaan could still see her. He’d always taught her to fight through pain, to dance even when her feet bled and to stay strong even when she was miserable. 

So she started to walk. 

She couldn’t entirely grasp where she was headed, just that she had to leave. She was no longer welcome in her home. All she could do now was put one foot in front of the other.

Rayla knew she could have handled the situation better. Showing Runaan the hickey was definitely overkill. But she wanted to hurt him. She wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt her when he cut her out of the show she’d been dreaming of for months. She wanted to hurt him for the things he’d said about Callum.

Rayla was several blocks away when she finally felt the first tear fall. She brushed it away impatiently as she pulled her phone from her pocket, wincing at the sight of her own haggard face briefly reflected back at her before the screen turned on. 

She wiped at her eyes while scrolling through her contacts. She found Callum’s name and did her best to clear her throat before hitting ‘call.’

The line rang twice before he picked up.

“Hey,” he said, somehow still managing to sound light and affectionate even when she could hear the sleepiness in his voice. “You were right, I am already way too cold lying in bed without you.”

Despite everything, Rayla couldn’t help but smile. That was what Callum did for her. He could make her smile and laugh and feel better no matter how shitty the situation or how adamantly she was avoiding her problems. 

“Hey,” she said back, hearing the scratchiness in her own voice. “I-um, I know you just left, and I’m sorry, but I really need a favor.” She never knew a phone call could make her feel so small.

She heard Callum shift immediately. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” He didn’t sound tired anymore.

“Runaan was home and I opened my big fucking mouth and it didn’t go well,” she said with a sigh as she sat down on the curb beneath a street lamp and ran a hand through her hair. “Could I stay with you for a while?”

She could already hear the jingling of keys on the other end of the line. 

“Of course you can, I’m leaving right now. Where are you?” 

Rayla looked up at the street signs.

“Corner of Addison and Burr,” she replied.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” he said, the sound of a door quickly opening and closing echoing behind him. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice shaking as she felt more tears just waiting to spill over. 

“Always,” he said gently. “It’s gonna be alright, Ray.” 

Her usual sarcasm was quick to come up with a defensive reply, but she held it back. Callum didn’t deserve that from her, not right now. 

“Yeah,” she said quietly instead. “Maybe.”

She hung up and let her head drop into her hands, a full sob finally tearing its way from her lips. 

Runaan had rejected her. He didn’t want her as a dancer or a daughter. She knew Ethari would feel differently, and maybe if he’d been home, he could have talked his husband down a little. But the feelings would still be there. Runaan would still think she was a child and a fool and he would never be able to accept how she felt about Callum. 

She didn’t know how long she sat there on the side of the road, sobbing into her hands. But she didn’t move until she heard the sound of a car pull up in front of her.

Looking up through bleary eyes, she saw Callum throw open the driver’s side door and run to her. He dropped to his knees in the gutter and pulled her into his arms where she continued to cry.

Rayla clung to his jacket as her body shook with the strength of her sobs. Callum stayed silent, holding her tightly while he rubbed circles on her back and stroked her hair.

He was the only person she’d ever really cried in front of as an adult. He’d come into her life as the antithesis of everything she’d ever believed about humans. He’d broken down the walls Runaan had helped her build and made her feel safe in her own skin.

When they first started dating five months ago, they’d sat out on the deck of his apartment drinking cheap wine from Soren’s stash while they stargazed and shared stories from their childhoods. 

They eventually came to the story of how her parents left her with Runaan and Ethari to join the Elven Council when she was five and hadn’t returned for her. She initially threw around a few jokes and wry comments to diffuse the weight of the lonliness and abandonment she described in her story, but Callum saw through it all. He saw how much it had hurt her, how much damage it had done. 

But seeing the cracks in her walls hadn’t scared him away.

Instead, he told her about losing his own mother and how he’d cried for weeks when he found out she was gone. He told her how he still cries sometimes when he thinks about her. 

Everyone grieves differently, he’d told her, but not letting yourself grieve at all can be a slippery slope. 

Two hours and several glasses of wine later, they were huddled beneath a blanket while they shared a single patio chair, their faces both streaked with tears and their lips swollen. 

She teased him about it later, saying that he’d gotten her drunk and made her cry on their fourth date, but in reality, that night had meant the world to her. For the first time, she’d given herself permission to fall and Callum had been right there to catch her. 

And now he was doing it all over again. 

He cradled her until her sobs turned into hiccups, never once letting her go. When Rayla eventually pulled away, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead.

“Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s go home.”

He pulled her to her feet and didn’t let go of her hands until she was nestled in the passenger seat, her bag stored in the trunk. 

Her brain was numb now, but she supposed numbness was better than agony. She let herself sink into the soft leather of the seat, her head drooping to the side as she watched the lights of the city whizzing by as shapeless blobs. 

Callum didn’t press her to talk. She was about three shots of whiskey and one good night’s sleep away from being ready to talk just yet. But in the meantime, he kept hold of her hand, stroking the tops of her fingers with his thumb.

They reached his apartment as a soft rain began to thump against the windshield. Callum pulled into the garage and took the key out of the ignition but didn’t move to get out. 

Lolling her head to her other shoulder, Rayla was met with his concerned eyes. 

“Are you okay?” He asked seriously, taking her hand in both of his now. 

She squeezed back reassuringly. “I will be,” she said. “I’m sorry you had to come deal with me when I’m such a mess.” 

Callum shook his head. “I’ll always be here for you, Rayla, messes or no messes.”

There he went making her smile again.

“Thank you,” she said.

They spent the next several hours on the couch watching old samurai movies. After seeing her tear-soaked face, Soren brought out a bottle of his good bourbon, but not before asking if there was anyone she needed him to beat up. She patted him on the cheek and told him it was cute that he thought he could beat someone up worse than she could. 

But she was grateful all the same.

When she and Callum finally fell into bed, he held her close and kissed her deeply as the light of early morning began filtering through the drapes. They were both content in knowing that they wouldn’t be attending classes today.

“You know I love you, right?” He whispered into her ear after kissing his way down one of her horns. 

Hearing those words still sent a shiver up her spine. 

“I love you too,” she whispered back, her brain now happily buzzing from affection and the warmth of alcohol.

She lined his jaw with kisses before pulling away his scarf, only to rediscover the matching hickey she’d given him last night.

It was funny how much trouble one little bruise could cause. All it took were a few burst blood vessels for her to get kicked out of the only home she’d really ever known. Falling in love with a human was definitely a complicated business. 

But then again, Callum was worth it. He would always be worth it to her. 

She would talk to Runaan again at some point, she knew she would. Ethari would never let either of them rest until they did. Whether she would ever want to live with him again was a question for another time.

But for now, she kissed the mark on Callum’s neck, happy to know that he would be there when she woke up.


	2. Reparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I was so incredibly thrilled at how many people liked this story and all your wonderful suggestions inspired me to keep it going a little bit longer. I hope you enjoy and three cheers to Callum and Rayla's first Valentine's Day as a cannon couple ❤️

Ethari returned early the next morning to a house that was much too quiet. There was no music coming from Rayla’s room, there was no kettle boiling on the stove, there was no clattering of keys from Runaan’s laptop. Ethari sighed heavily as he trudged toward the stairs, suitcase in hand.

They’d fought again. 

He was used to it; Rayla and his husband had been butting heads since she was old enough to talk. But since they started dancing together, it had become more frequent. They were little squabbles for the most part: Rayla wanting to incorporate more modern moves into her routines, Runaan exasperatedly critiquing her échappés, both of them pushing the other to do better. 

It all came from a place of love, Ethari believed. They were too similar to not love each other, but they were also too similar to not get on each others nerves from time to time. 

Which meant it would be a quiet homecoming for him.

Ethari paused to look at Rayla’s closed door before glancing at his watch. It wasn’t unusual for her to head to campus early to study, especially if she and Runaan weren’t speaking to each other. Shaking his head, Ethari continued down the hall to his and Runaan’s room and opened the door to find his husband surprisingly still in bed. 

Runaan wasn’t usually one to laze away a perfectly good morning. 

Ethari put his suitcase on the ground before crawling onto the bed and over to Runaan. He was awake, but there were bags beneath his eyes and his expression was faraway. Ethari brushed away some hair from his face and kissed his cheek lovingly.

“So what did you say to each other this time?” Ethari said softly as he continued to kiss along his jaw.

Runaan snapped from his stupor and looked at him. His expression was hard to read. For a moment, Ethari could have sworn he looked scared - not an emotion Runaan easily let slip. But a wave of tension quickly followed and the little lines between his brows filled in with a frown. 

Without a word, Runaan tugged at the back of Ethari’s neck, pulling him against his body and into a deep kiss. They stayed there for a while, enjoying the feel of each other after nearly a week apart. They moved together until Ethari was straddling his lap, one hand drifting through Runaan’s hair while the other was braced on his hip. 

“That’s more of the welcome home I was looking for,” Ethari said with a chuckle when he pulled away. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too,” Runaan said, his own smile not quite reaching his eyes. 

Ethari sighed once more and rolled off his husband. He moved to sit in front of him instead, his arms crossed as he looked at him expectantly. “What happened?”

Runaan’s frown deepened as he stood up and headed toward their closet. “Rayla was foolish and I disciplined her.”

“She’s almost twenty years old, Runaan. You can’t keep trying to scold her like she’s ten,” Ethari cut in. “Did she skip class again? Because you and I both know we used to -” 

“She’s been seeing that human boy behind our backs,” Runaan said with barely-subdued ferocity, his fists shaking at his sides. “She disobeyed my leadership at the studio, so I cut her from the performance at Kalik Hall. So she decided to run straight to that human and let him...touch her.” 

Ethari’s eyes blew open wide. “What?” He asked, stunned.

“She came sneaking back here after midnight with a hickey on her neck,” Runaan said, turning back to look at him. “That’s not how we raised her to behave. I told her when all of this nonsense started that I wouldn’t tolerate something like that.” 

Runaan was furious, that much was clear, but there was also that same flicker of fear creeping at the edge of his expression. Not only that, but Runaan was avoiding looking him in the eyes. He paced back and forth across the floor instead, only glancing up briefly before looking back at the carpet.

Ethari’s own eyes began to narrow. Runaan wasn’t frightened of many things, but Ethari’s reaction when he’d messed up? That was definitely one of them. 

What had he done?

A light clicked on in Ethari’s mind and he stood up from bed with a frown on his face. Not bothering to see Runaan’s reaction, he stormed by and back out the door, though he could hear footsteps trailing behind him as he rushed down the hall. 

He opened the door to Rayla’s room to find her pointe shoes still sitting on her desk along with several textbooks and her laptop. Her sheets and quilt were folded neatly on the bed that hadn’t been slept in.

“Runaan, where is our daughter?” Ethari said coolly.

* * *

Rayla woke that afternoon feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. She hadn’t spent a full night at Callum’s apartment since Runaan and Ethari went out of town for their anniversary. 

With her eyes still closed, she let herself nuzzle against Callum’s back, his skin soft and warm against her cheek. The events of last night were a distant ache in her gut that she would deal with later. For now, she would bask in the glow of a good night’s sleep.

She felt Callum beginning to stir in her arms and held him tighter, her hands moving from his chest to his waist as her fingers caressed every inch in between. Rayla listened to the low, happy hum that reverberated through him under her touch.

“Mmm, good morning to you too,” he said as he looked back at her, the lowness of his voice sending a shiver up her spine.

“Hi,” she said, kissing his shoulder. 

"How are you feeling?" He asked, trying and failing to roll over fully, her arms holding him firmly in place. She loved the feeling of her chest pressed against his bare back.

"Like I never want to go anywhere else ever again," she said.

He chuckled and managed to pry one of her hands away from his middle so he could kiss each of her fingers.

They stayed in bed for a while longer, enjoying slow, tender touches and gentle kisses as the day continued on without them. This was what Rayla had dreamt about for months: a day with her boyfriend that wasn’t hindered by the worry that they’d be discovered. 

Soren knew, as did Callum’s little brother, but they were both kind-hearted, sometimes to a fault. So their reactions were a bit of an outlier.

But today there would be no suppressing the desire to hold hands while they walked to class or kiss each other goodbye when Rayla left for practice. There wouldn’t be the pain of saying goodnight over text when they so desperately wanted to be beside each other. 

The rumbling of their stomachs eventually drove them begrudgingly out of bed and Callum began scouring the floor for his clothes.

"So…" he said, trying to sound casual as he pulled on a pair of sweats. "Do you want to talk about what happened with Runaan?"

Rayla froze halfway through tugging one of Callum's shirts over her head. "Not particularly," she mumbled through the fabric.

"I think it'll make you feel better," he replied.

Rayla huffed and yanked the shirt the rest of the way down and pulled a pair of pants from the top drawer of Callum’s dresser - her drawer. 

She knew he was right, he usually was. But the whole concept of sharing her feelings was still relatively new and not exactly comfortable. 

“I might have shown him my hickey,” she said quietly, deliberately focusing her attention on untangling her hair from around her horns instead of looking him in the eye. 

Callum sputtered a little. “Y-you what?”

“He was saying awful things about you!” Rayla said, raising her arms in exasperation. “What was I supposed to do? Just let him keep at it?”

Callum’s face was flushed red. People knowing what they did behind closed doors flustered him, she knew that. So the knowledge that her uptight, intimidating, human-hating dad knew that Callum had given her a hickey wasn’t exactly a fun thought for him. 

“I’m sorry,” she said as she nervously clutched one arm. “I was pissed off and he just kept pushing, so I wanted to push back. I knew it would hurt him but I didn’t think of it hurting you too. I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, you don’t have to apologize,” he said, snapping out of his stupor and putting his hands on her shoulders. “I get it. You know I’d snap too if someone was saying bad things about you. Remember the coffee shop guy?”

Rayla chuckled. 

They were usually pretty discrete with their affection when they were out in public. But a few weeks ago, Callum had had a particularly rough exam in his Theoretical Earth Magic class and Rayla had held his hand while they waited in line for coffee on campus. 

The human man at the counter had glanced at their hands before putting on the sleaziest grin and asking Callum how much it cost to take an elf to bed. Callum had never been the type of guy to go off on someone in public. Sure, Rayla had seen him angry before, but on that day, he was positively livid. 

He pointedly told the cashier to go fuck himself before letting him know that Dean Harrow would be informed specifically about the incident. 

It was the first time she'd ever seen him use the fact that his step-dad is the dean to his advantage.

"Thanks for having my back with Runaan," he said, kissing her cheek and pulling on a shirt. 

"Always," she said, echoing his promise from last night.

He smiled at her before heading toward the door. "Breakfast for lunch sound good to you?"

"Sounds perfect," she replied. "Mind if I use your charger?"

"Go for it," he said over his shoulder.

Rayla pulled her dead phone out of the pocket of her backpack before flopping down on Callum's side of the bed. She pulled the cable from his phone and plugged it into hers, waiting a few moments before holding down the power button.

She wasn't expecting any messages from Runaan. She doubted she would ever get any kind of full apology from him, let alone the day after kicking her out. But she couldn’t pretend that wasn't secretly holding onto just a flicker of hope.

But once her phone had turned on properly, she was instead inundated with a string of texts from Ethari. Her eyes widened at the big red ‘8’ that hung over her messages app. 

Anxiously, she began to scan them.

_ [9:21 a.m.] Rayla, Runaan told me what happened. Are you ok? Where are you?  _

_ [9:57 a.m.] I can come pick you up. Runaan is taking a long walk somewhere to go cool off. He won't be home, I promise.  _

_ [10:39 a.m.] I understand if you're upset with me too. I should have been there. If you come home we can talk about this.  _

_ [11:03 a.m.] If your human means this much to you we can make it work. I've already given Runaan an earful for what he did. You know how he gets. _

_ [12:46 p.m.] Honey I'm getting really worried. I just want to know that you're ok. _

_ [12:55 p.m.] Is there somewhere else I can meet you? Just to talk? _

_ [1:11p.m.] Rayla, please. I don't care where you are. Just tell me you're not lying in a gutter somewhere and I'll leave you alone. _

_ [1:29 p.m.] I know his father is the dean of the school. I don't want to call him but I will if that's what it takes.  _

Rayla saw the last message was sent only a few minutes ago and scrambled to hit 'call.' She didn't even have to wait an entire ring for Ethari to pick up.

"Rayla! Thank the stars. Sweetheart, are you alright? Are you safe?"

Rayla choked as a little sob bubbled into her throat at the concern in his voice. 

"Y-yeah, I'm ok," she said, she said quietly.

Ethari let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Runaan was wrong to send you away, I hope you know that.”

Did she know that? It sure hadn’t felt like Runaan thought it was wrong at the time and she doubted that he thought so now. Ethari seemed to be in her corner for the moment, but he wasn’t the one who’d pulled the trigger. 

“Does it matter?” She asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. 

Another sigh from Ethari. 

“No, I suppose it doesn’t, not now anyway. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to stop it,” he said. She could hear the remorse in his voice, full and genuine and heartbreaking. 

“It’s not your fault,” she whispered. 

“Is it safe to assume you’re with th- uh, with Callum?” Rayla heard him almost slip and call Callum ‘the human boy,’ just like usual. But he didn’t. The impulse was still there but he was trying, which was nice. 

“Yes,” she said, her tone blunt but not overly harsh. 

“And, he’s...treating you well?” He asked tentatively. 

Rayla rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she said again “He always does.”

“Good, that’s...that’s good,” he said. Rayla could practically see him awkwardly shuffling on the other end of the line. “Rayla I-I meant what I said; if he’s that important to you, then we can make it work. I don’t want to lose you.” 

A tear rolled down her cheek. It was all she’d ever wanted to hear from him--that he would love her no matter who she loved, that he would be there for her even when Runaan wasn’t. Ethari had always been her confidant for matters of the heart, she just wanted that again. 

But she couldn’t help the flicker of bitterness that now lived in her heart as well.

“Then why couldn’t you make it work before? I told you both months ago that I was in love with him and I wanted to be with him. Why couldn’t it have mattered  _ before _ I was gone?” She heard a soft clatter in the kitchen as Callum presumably heard her steadily-rising voice. 

He swiftly came around the corner and poked his head in the door, his eyes widening as he saw the distress on her face. Rayla did her best to muster a little smile for him and used the little bit of sign language he’d been teaching her to silently tell him that she was okay.

Callum nodded and came to sit on the edge of the bed with her, slinging an arm across her shoulders. She focused on the feeling of his touch, letting it calm her mind.

“Because I was afraid,” Ethari replied. “And maybe a little angry. I don’t know anything about humans besides what I was raised to know--that they’re cruel and heartless and can’t be trusted to truly care about anything but themselves.

“I know the world is headed toward peace and that means breaking down barriers like that. But all I could think was, ‘Why does it have to be you? Why can't someone else be the first one to love a human?’ I didn’t want that for you and, selfishly, I didn't want that for me either."

“I’m not doing it alone,” she said, finding Callum’s hand and lacing their fingers together. 

“I know,” Ethari said, sniffing. “And I hope that one day you can forgive me for my selfishness and prejudice.”

It was Rayla’s turn to sigh. “Yeah,” she said. “Me too.”

Silence hung over the phone for a moment, each of them letting the sting of their wounds settle in. 

“Runaan’s going to be out late...” Ethari said. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard him sound quite so timid. “If you need to come by and get anything.”

Rayla hesitated before answering. 

“...I’m not going to stay,” she said eventually. “It’d just be me grabbing my stuff and coming back to Callum’s.” She gave Callum a sidelong glance, silently making sure that he still didn’t mind her staying with him. 

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek in reassurance. 

“I-I know,” Ethari said. Rayla had to bite her bottom lip as she heard him cover his phone and let out a great shuddering breath. “I know that’s not what you want right now. I just can’t bear looking at your empty room without seeing you one more time. Please? Let me be selfish just one last time?”

Rayla wasn’t sure if she could have said no at that moment even if she wanted to. She’d never heard Ethari sound so broken. She wanted to see him, to hug him and cry with him. This whole thing was such a mess and maybe this could be their first step toward fixing it. 

“Okay,” she said, squeezing Callum’s hand a little tighter. “I’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you, Rayla. I love you so much,” Ethari said. 

“I love you too,” she replied before hanging up. 

She let the phone drop onto the nightstand with a clatter as she scrambled to pull herself into Callum’s lap and wrap her arms around him. 

“Are you alright?” He asked as he rubbed circles on her back. 

“Yeah,” she said tentatively. “I think so.” She was trembling slightly, but there were no sobs or tears threatening to break free, which she considered a win.

What she hadn’t considered, at least not entirely, was walking back into her house so soon after last night. So far, she’d been letting herself get distracted by good whiskey, her favorite movies and Callum. She hadn’t even remotely started to fully process the situation.

“Will you come with me? She mumbled into Callum’s chest. 

“To go get your stuff?” He asked, managing to get a thumb beneath her chin so he could raise her head up to look at her properly. 

She nodded.   
“Of course I will,” he said before kissing her soundly. 

“And I think I should tell you more about what happened on the drive over,” she said, pulling away from him before she got distracted yet again. 

“Yeah?” He asked, unable to keep the little sparkle of enthusiasm out of his eyes. “You want to?”

“No,” she said frankly. “But I think I should.”

He kissed her again, this time cupping his hand around her face so his thumb brushed against her ear while the rest of his fingers gripped the back of her neck.

“I’m really proud of you, Ray,” he said a little breathlessly, pulling away just enough so that when he spoke, his lips still ghosted across hers. 

Rayla looked into his eyes for a moment, his beautiful, kind eyes that always managed to start a fire in her belly when he looked at her in wonder like he was doing right now. She yanked him back with more force than was necessary, their lips pulling and pushing against each other with equal fervor. 

She could stand to let herself be distracted by good things for just a few more minutes, she decided, before she had to go back and face the bad. There wasn’t anything wrong with savoring the time she had with Callum. Until now, it seemed like they had so little of it. But now there were days, weeks, maybe even months ahead of them where they would be together. 

So she let herself fall back with him into the eye of the storm, where the winds were calm and torrent that threatened to overwhelm her couldn’t reach them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	3. Exoneration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it felt great to finally come back and finish this story. This has been such a fun concept to play with and I can't thank you all enough for the support and kind words I've received. I'm sorry it took so long, but here we are and I hope you enjoy the conclusion.

Rayla spent the majority of the drive anxiously bouncing her legs or fiddling with the end of the little braid that hung behind her right ear. 

She was not ready for this. She was most certainly not ready for this. 

Ethari had assured her that Runaan would not be there, but the house would still remind her of him. She’d still find his shoes arranged neatly on the mat beside the door; she’d still smell the earthy cologne he’d used for as long as she could remember drifting through the halls; she’d still see the marks he and Ethari had made on the door jamb to show how tall she’d gotten over the years. 

Rayla sighed and let her eyes close as she gripped tighter on the hand Callum was resting on her leg. 

“Maybe this was a mistake,” she said dejectedly. “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.” 

She felt his hand begin to run up and down her leg in gentle, reassuring strokes. 

“It’s gonna be okay, I promise,” he said and Rayla peaked an eye open just in time to see him smile at her briefly before looking back toward the road. “We’re going there on your terms. We can be in and out in five minutes if you want to.”

“Yeah, I’ve just never not lived there, you know? It feels weird to be going there as an outsider,” she said. 

“Hey, it’s still your home. Just because your dad was a complete asshole doesn’t mean he gets to take away everything that made it special to you.”

Rayla couldn’t help but smile a little at Callum’s dig at Runaan. She’d relayed the entire series of last night’s events to him as they were getting out of bed and dressing for the second time that day and he’d been less than impressed with her surrogate father. 

“Thanks,” she said, feeling just a little more at ease.”Suppose I should get some of my own clothes anyway.” She gestured down toward the shirt of his she was continuing to wear.

“No, no, no,” he said quickly, his hand coming to a stop a little higher up on her thigh. “You wearing my shirts doesn’t need to change whatsoever.”

Rayla laughed and swatted his hand but she saw him smile as he returned it to the steering wheel.

“Feeling better?” He asked.

She smiled back and leaned over the center console to kiss his cheek. “Yeah, thank you.”

* * *

Ethari had lost track of how long he’d been sitting, frantically glancing out the window every time a car passed by. Surely the boy didn’t live that far away, he thought to himself. Or did Rayla purposefully not want him to know how long it took her to get here? He wouldn’t put it past her, Runaan had filled that girl’s head with so much nonsense from his time in the elven army that she was practically a special ops agent like he was. 

The notion rang even truer as another car sped by and Ethari felt his heart race before once again dropping into his stomach. This was indeed a special kind of torture. 

But he knew he deserved it. What Rayla had said over the phone was true - he hadn’t been there for her when she’d needed him to be. Instead, he’d waited until  _ he  _ was the one in pain, when  _ he  _ was the one whose heart was broken. 

Selfish. 

He sank a little deeper into his chair and glanced at some of the photos on the mantle: his and Runaan’s wedding day, Rayla’s first day of school, the time he’d found her asleep in the yard next to a bushel of adoraburrs, all of them together on a camping trip in the Xadian highlands. 

Their family. 

Ethari felt a tear run down his cheek -- he’d stopped trying to catch them at this point -- and eventually it rolled off his chin before landing on his knuckles. 

He’d never been more upset with Runaan than he had been that morning. He’d never shouted at his husband like that before, but the grief at the thought of losing Rayla had overwhelmed him. Runaan had shouted back, a few tears of his own falling as well. He was just as broken but too proud to admit it. 

Ethari had told him to go to the studio until he called, that he needed to make sure their daughter hadn’t been stolen away in the middle of the night while she wandered the streets alone. Runaan had glared but acquiesced and had remained obediently silent since. 

Those hours Ethari had waited between texts to Rayla had been the absolute worst of his life. He’d run through his cell phone battery twice as he constantly refreshed his messages, tears running down his cheeks as he ached for his husband to hold him. 

He wanted things to go back to the way they were before he left for his business trip. 

He wanted his family back. 

Ethari took a deep breath and winced as he was met with the sensation of gravel scraping its way up his raw throat. He deserved it, he couldn’t help but think again. After all, how much pain had he made Rayla endure all these months? He couldn’t imagine what he would have done if his parents had forbade him from seeing Runaan. 

Ethari had always been a romantic. In their wedding vows, he’d told Runaan that his love would be with him even when the moon was not, and it was true. Ethari had never loved another man and he knew that he never would, because he’d already given his heart to Runaan entirely. Rayla had inherited that proclivity for loving someone so desperately, Ethari now believed. 

He wiped his cheek and straightened back up in his chair. He would fix this. He would make sure that his family was whole again one day. 

He started a little when he heard a car door slam and his eyes shot once more to the window. Sure enough, there was Rayla standing at the end of the walkway, fiddling nervously with her hair. 

Ethari stood and instinctively raised a hand in her direction, but froze when he saw another person walk around the other side of the car and take her hand confidently in his. 

The boy looked different than he would have imagined as a suitor for his daughter, and not just because he was human. Rayla had always been a strong-willed, fiery little girl with more strength and energy than she knew what to do with at times. Ethari had always pictured her finding someone who would match that ferocity. But when he looked at this human boy, he instead saw kindness and a gentle smile.

It was disarming, enough so that Ethari was temporarily distracted from the sight of Rayla turning to kiss the boy -- Callum, he reminded himself -- on the lips. 

His heart quickened with anxiety as the pair began approaching the house together. He hadn’t prepared for the possibility that Callum would accompany Rayla into the house and he quickly admonished himself for being so naive. 

He practically leaped into the foyer and stared blankly at the front door for just a moment before reaching out and pulling it open. Rayla jumped a little, her hand extended with her key reaching for the air where the lock no longer was. All it took was one look into her eyes to bring the tears and grief rushing back to his own and Ethari tried to swallow a sob. 

“Th-there you are,” he said and did his best to smile. 

Rayla’s own dam of composure burst before his eyes and she rushed forward. Ethari wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair as she cried and trembled against his chest.

He glanced up to see Callum standing there looking at Rayla with concern before turning his gaze on him appraisingly. Ethari’s instincts told him to pull Rayla into the house and slam the door. But he couldn’t deny the way he saw Callum looking at his daughter like she was the most precious thing in the world. 

Callum seemed to mull over his own preconceived notions for a moment -- Ethari could only imagine what Rayla had said about him during the last 14 hours -- before his eyes once again softened and he reached out to pat Rayla on the back. He didn’t let go of Ethari’s gaze while he did it. It wasn’t a challenge, per say, more of a statement that no matter what Ethari thought of him, Rayla was more important. 

And for the first time in his life, Ethari felt a flicker of respect bloom for a human. He nodded back at him silently as Rayla’s breathing began to steady and she eventually leaned away. 

She sniffed and rubbed away the last of her tears. “I-I don’t know what Runaan told you but-”

Ethari shook his head. “He told me enough. Rayla, I am so, so sorry. He shouldn’t have done that; he shouldn’t have let you walk away in the middle of the night.” 

He looked back over her shoulder to Callum and reached out a hand in his direction. Ethari watched the boy’s eyes widen in surprise. He hesitated only briefly before mirroring the movement, grasping Ethari’s hand and shaking it firmly. 

“Thank you,” Ethari said wholeheartedly. “For keeping her safe.” 

Callum smiled and glanced at Rayla, whose sodden eyes had also blown open wide with shock. 

“It was my pleasure, sir,” he said. 

Ethari felt a little flicker of satisfaction at Callum’s formality. At least the boy hadn’t already decided to hate him. 

Together they moved inside the house and Ethari saw Rayla reach back again for Callum’s hand, squeezing it tightly. It was strange and fascinating to see his daughter so affectionate with someone. It wasn’t a side of herself she often let show. She was a spirited, if not usually solitary, child. She worked hard and left little time for distractions. But there were also the nights that she would climb into Ethari and Runaan’s bed after a nightmare and ask to be held. On those nights, Ethari would hold her close and rub circles on her back until she drifted back to sleep.

She hadn’t been one to get caught up with boys growing up either. He supposed that was part of the reason why it came as such a shock four months ago when she announced that, not only was she dating someone, but she was in love and was seeking her fathers’ blessings. The fact that he was a human came as an afterthought, one that he and Runaan had been quick to latch onto.

Ethari’s heart lurched again in his chest. So much pain, so much anger, all for what? 

As they shuffled into the foyer, Ethari suddenly became aware of how glaringly uncomfortable he suddenly felt in his own home. It all seemed so different to know that Rayla would not be there when he went to bed that night or likely when he woke up tomorrow. In fact, he didn’t know when the next time would be that he would see his daughter in the home where he and Runaan had raised her. 

It was an inevitably he knew all parents faced at one time or another, but he hadn’t been prepared for it to come crashing down on top of him so soon. 

“All of your things are still up in your room,” he said, shuffling awkwardly and gesturing to the stairs like she didn’t already know where her room was. 

Rayla nodded a little stiffly and bit at her bottom lip. “Right,” she said. “We’d better get to it then. Come on, Callum.”

As she began to pull the boy up the stairs with her, Ethari’s hand reached out and caught his shoulder. 

“Actually, I was hoping I could have a quick word? If you don’t mind, lad?” He asked, trying his best not to sound hostile.

Rayla turned and looked anxiously between the two of them, clearly uneasy leaving her boyfriend alone with him. Ethari was mildly surprised, however, to see Callum gently wave her forward. 

“Yeah, of course. We’ll be up in a sec, Ray,” he said, smiling at her. 

Ethari’s surprise grew even more. Rayla had often said she detested nicknames and only ever let himself and occasionally Runaan get away with calling her anything other than her name. This human had indeed brought about some unexpected changes in her. 

Rayla hesitated only temporarily before nodding slowly as she continued up to her room without them. When she was gone, Callum turned to Ethari and looked at him expectantly, though not unkindly. 

“I-uh, I’m guessing you have a few questions?” Callum said, rubbing at the back of his head in a way that reminded Ethari a little of himself. 

“Aye, that I do,” he said and ushered Callum over to the den.

They sat on opposite ends of the old, sunken sofa as Ethari silently contemplated what on earth to say to this boy. He wasn’t a particularly large human, his features much more easily described as lanky than bulky, but he held an air of strength in his expression. Ethari smirked as he noted that his posture could use some work, however. 

His ancestors were screaming that it was this boy’s fault for corrupting his daughter and tearing their family apart. But his heart felt differently. His heart knew that Rayla was smart and responsible; his heart had seen the way they’d looked at each other; and his heart knew that this boy had been there for her last night when neither of her fathers had been. 

So, he decided to start by saying something he knew would have his ancestors quaking in their graves.

“I would like to apologize,” Ethari said, staring at his hands as they lay resting on his lap. “To you personally for my role in the prejudice that drove Rayla away. I was raised to distrust your kind but I am beginning to see that that’s unfair. You were there for her when she needed it most, and for that I will always be grateful.”

Callum nodded, the green of his eyes still reflecting the same gentle kindness Ethari had seen through the window. 

“Thank you for saying that, though I think Rayla’s the one who deserves a few more apologies at this point,” he said, his eyes now glancing back toward the stairs. 

“And she will have them. Believe me, not a day will go by that I won’t regret what happened. But I do also have a question for you, something I would ask anyone, elf or human, if they were seeing Rayla,” he said. From the other side of the sofa, Ethari could see the understanding beginning to bloom on Callum’s face, slowly spreading into trepidation. 

“I’d like to ask you what your intentions are with my daughter,” Ethari said, his voice staying relatively level.

He watched as Callum squirmed on the worn, grey cushion, his mouth opening and closing a few times wordlessly. He sputtered as he worked to regain his voice before clearing it with a single, sharp cough. 

“Rayla is the love of my life,” he finally choked out, his cheeks on fire but his voice seeming to find strength in the words as he continued. “She is the most amazing person I’ve ever met and I fully intend on asking her to marry me one day.”

Ethari’s eyebrows raised. He hadn’t exactly been expecting that much of a commitment from him already.

“You want to marry her?” He asked carefully.

Callum nodded.

“Even though she’s an elf?” Ethari asked, watching as Callum nodded again. “Even though there will be people on both sides ready to tell you every day how wrong and unnatural it is?” 

“Is that how you see us? Wrong and unnatural?” Callum asked in return, his expression hardening a fraction. 

Ethari paused for a few seconds as he considered the answer to that question for himself, his thumbs twiddling together as they rested on his knees. 

“I won’t lie to you and say that it’s not my gut reaction,” he said, still trying to keep his voice strong. But the twinge of disappointment he saw in Callum’s eyes was making his resolve crumble. “But the world as I know it is changing and I don’t want to be left behind. I would like to know my grandchildren one day, even if they are halflings.” 

Callum’s blush darkened a few shades.

“So if you are serious; if you will love her and do right by her no matter what...then you have my blessing.”

Callum’s mouth opened slightly and stayed there for a moment before any words managed to come out. “Th-thank you, sir,” he said, the surprise clear in his voice. “But if I’m being honest, I was never looking for a blessing. I know they’re important in your family and it meant a lot to Rayla that you and your husband approved, but I’m planning on marrying her regardless.”

For the first time since he returned home and all this mess started, Ethari laughed. He may not look it at first glance, but this boy was bold -- unapologetically so -- and Ethari couldn’t help but like him for it. 

“I admire your candor,” Ethari said as he continued to chuckle. “And your perspective. I can’t say I would have waited around for permission to marry Runaan if that had been the case.”

Callum smiled back. “Rayla’s worth waiting for. But she’s worth bending the rules for too.”

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs preceded the appearance of Rayla’s head peeking around the corner into the den, a look of concern on her face. 

“Did I hear...laughing?” She asked, her brow twisting with skepticism. 

Ethari, still smiling, rose from the sofa and crossed the room to pull his daughter into his arms once more. 

“You’ve found yourself an interesting young man, Rayla,” he whispered into her ear. “ I think I like him.”

Rayla clutched him tight, Ethari feeling the stretch of her smile against his shoulder. “Yeah,” she whispered back. “I think I like him too.”

The trio moved into Rayla’s room, halfheartedly packing her belongings while using much more effort to pass questions back and forth and share stories.

Ethari couldn’t help but smile as Callum and Rayla bickered about the telling of their first meeting. Callum claimed it had taken place at a little coffee shop just outside the library at the start of term. He’d been sitting at a table working on a sketch when the door opened and let in a particularly strong gust of wind. He’d looked up while he waited for the pages of his book to settle back into place and he’d seen her. 

He hadn’t had the opportunity to see many elves when he was growing up, so she was immediately fascinating to him. He’d studied the curves of her horns and the points of her ears as she’d approached the counter to order her drink. Then, when she’d turned around, he saw the unique color of her eyes and Callum had felt the immediate urge to draw her. 

Unfortunately, she’d noticed him staring from across the room and shot a glare back in his direction that immediately chilled his blood. His eyes had fallen back to his sketchbook while he blushed furiously. But when another gust of wind caused his pages to flutter once again, he’d glanced back up for just a second to watch her leave. 

Rayla, on the other hand, argued that the brief moment in the cafe didn’t count as their first meeting. She claimed it came about a week later when they first spoke to each other. She’d subbed into a Xadian history class to better accommodate her dance schedule and had arrived on her first day to find a familiar nosy human sitting in the third row. 

She’d huffed a bit but was almost immediately disarmed by his offer to help her get caught up on the first week of content that she’d missed. She’d agreed, but not before saying something snarky about how he better not stare at her. Callum had replied with a fumbled answer about how he liked her ears.

After that, they’d started talking and studying together every day, even after Rayla was caught up with the class. Before either of them really knew it, they were friends. Callum would come with her when Rayla reserved a room in the music hall to practice ballet and Rayla would sit with him by the little stream near campus while he sketched. Through it all, they’d take turns asking each other about differences between elf and human cultures. 

Then one day, when Rayla was a little delirious from staying up all night to study for an exam, she’d kissed his cheek as she left for practice without really giving it a thought and Callum had been a goner. She’d already hopped onto the bus before he had a chance to properly comprehend what had happened, let alone respond, and he’d spent that entire night lying awake thinking about it. 

The next day, Rayla had been mortified. She tried her best to backpedal and deny what she’d done, her face bright red the whole time. After letting her flail for a good five minutes, Callum had interrupted her to ask her out on a date. She’d kissed him then and there.

“I think you kind of know what happened after that,” Callum said, frowning a little as he reached the conclusion of the story. “Rayla said that she tried talking to you and your husband but it didn’t go well.”

Ethari sighed. “No, no it didn’t.”

“Why?” Callum asked.

“Because we were afraid of what it would mean for Rayla to be in love with a human,” Ethari said, wincing a little at the words as they came out of his mouth. “Runaan and I have been stuck in our ways for a very long time, and you did not fit into that picture.”

“That’s still not a good excuse,” Rayla muttered from the other side of the room as she threw some more of her dance gear into a duffel bag.

“No, it isn’t,” Ethari agreed. “And I’m sorry for that, truly. I’m beginning to see how incredibly wrong I was.”

Rayla seemed satisfied enough with his answer, offering back a “thank you” before she threw a few miscellaneous knick knacks from her desk into her bag. 

Ethari nodded before clearing his throat. “That being said, I do have one more question.” And it was the one he was dreading with all his heart. “When Runaan told me about what happened last night, he said that you came home with...well...with something on your neck.”

He didn’t think he’d ever seen Rayla go so still so quickly, the color draining from her face like a tap had been turned on. Callum, meanwhile, had averted his eyes entirely and now seemed to be much more interested in the worn ends of his scarf.

“I didn’t realize he told you about that,” Rayla said, her voice small and a bit squeaky.

Ethari ran a hand through his hair, trying and failing to keep his posture straight and serious as he continued folding pairs of Rayla’s socks. “Yes, he did. So now I have to ask...are you...stars, I was not the parent who was supposed to have this conversation,” he mumbled, cursing Runaan for not being here to do it for him. “Have you two been... _ together _ ?”

Their faces immediately told him the answer and Ethari silently said a little prayer to Garlath to give him strength. “And I assume that you are being...safe?”

Rayla flopped onto her bed, burying her face in her hands and letting out a string of colorful curses under her breath. 

“Umm...y-yes sir,” Callum finally said, still not looking in Ethari’s direction. 

That was more than enough of an answer for him. 

* * *

Before any of them were truly ready, the bags were packed and the sun was beginning to dip in the sky. 

As Rayla stood in the hall in almost the exact same spot as last night, she could feel a tightness growing in her chest. She didn’t know when she’d be back here again, didn’t know the circumstances under which she’d next return to her childhood home. Her body felt heavy and tired.

Oh Gods, she was so tired. 

But when a pair of voices emerged from the kitchen, polite and full of levity, Rayla’s heart unclenched just a little and the storm of thoughts that threatened to derail her calmed to a manageable hum.

Callum and Ethari were getting along. 

A part of her always knew they had a lot in common, but an even bigger part of her had doubted that the day would ever come that they’d be in the same room long enough to find out how alike they were.

It was almost too much for her to see it finally happening. Watching them joke about her stubbornness and praise her accomplishments like they were earth-shattering; listening to them laugh while Ethari made up supper for them to take back to Callum’s apartment; it was overwhelming to say the least.

Last night had been awful, that would never change, but now there was an unexpected light in the darkness. There was hope that one day this could be their normal.

Maybe one day, she and Callum would come over to visit for fun. They'd spend the day playing silly board games while Callum and Ethari traded bad jokes. Maybe Runaan could even be there to roll his eyes alongside her while they both got too competitive. Then the day could end with hugs and fond wishes for them to visit more often.

Perhaps it was a bit foolish to think like that after one meeting, especially when as far as she knew, Runaan still meant what he'd said last night. But it was what she had to hold onto, and she didn't intend on letting go.

"Ray, you ready to go?" Callum asked as he turned his smile from Ethari to her, his hands now laden with Tupperware. 

Rayla glanced between the two men in front of her, taking a moment to burn the sight of the two of them together into her memory. She smiled. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said, pulling Ethari into one last hug. 

"I'll talk to Runaan, I promise," he whispered while he held her tight. Rayla could hear his voice starting to quiver once more. "I'm so sorry about all of this, Rayla."

“Me too," she said, looking at him. “But if last night hadn't happened, today wouldn't have either. This was...nice.”

A few tears slipped from Ethari's eyes. "I'm still sorry it took us so long to get here." He paused to look toward Callum again. "As far as I'm concerned, you are welcome here whenever you want, Callum."

Rayla squeezed Ethari as tight as she could before pulling away and grabbing her stuff from the floor. *"I love you, dad," she said as she took Callum's hand. 

"I love you too, Rayla," Ethari said back.

And this time, when Rayla walked down the driveway, she turned back to find a smiling, waving face sending them off. She waved back as they loaded the trunk and got into the car. 

Rayla exhaled a heavy breath the moment they turned off her street.

"Are you alright?" Callum asked. Rayla looked over to see the vibrant orange light of the sunset reflecting radiantly off the green of his eyes.

She felt her heart give a little flutter. "Yeah, I think I am actually."

Callum looked over to smile at her and take her hand. "Good, cause I think as far as meeting a future in-law goes, I did pretty damn well." 

Rayla laughed and she felt another layer of tension melt away. "'Future in-law' huh? Aren't you getting awfully ambitious."

Callum shrugged. "What can I say? I can’t imagine wanting to spend my life with anyone but you.”

Rayla arched an eyebrow. "Is this you actually asking me to marry you?"

Callum glanced back over at her briefly, his hand still holding firm to hers. "Maybe not officially. I think I'd prefer coming up with something a little more romantic than this. But I guess this can be me asking you about asking you? What do you think?" 

Rayla's heart gave a wild thump in her chest. Until she’d met Callum, she had never given much thought to things like marriage or starting a family. She’d focused on her grades and her dancing and not much else. But then he’d stepped into her life and made her realize how much else she deserved. She deserved to love and be loved. Now, here he was, casually asking what she thought of loving him for the rest of her life and she couldn’t picture it any other way either.

Rayla leaned over to place a quick kiss on Callum's lips, followed by another on his jaw and another on his cheek. "I think it's a yes," she said as they continued on their journey home.

* * *

Ethari watched them drive away until they disappeared from view. What an unexpected turn this day had taken.

His chest still ached and his eyes were still raw but his daughter was happy and he couldn’t ask for a greater gift to come out of this chaos than that. It would take time for everyone’s wounds to mend and it would take even longer for false judgments to be corrected but Ethari had taken his first step and he was still standing. 

He had every confidence that once Runaan had the chance to see what he’d seen, he could also begin to see reason. Their family would be whole again once more. Though perhaps it may grow just a little bit bigger.

It was with that thought in mind that Ethari pulled out his phone and sent a quick text.

_ [7:52 p.m.] Come back to me, my love. I’ve been without my heart for far too long.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story and for sticking with me if you've been reading since I first published it in January. It was a longer road to get here than I first expected, but we did it! I hope you enjoyed this final chapter and I'm hoping to have something new to publish soon. Have a beautiful day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


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